13 Oct How do I fix my Windows 7 base system device?
“If you’re having trouble with your Windows 7 base system device, then you’ve come to the right place. This blog post will show you how to fix it in five easy steps.”
How do I fix my Windows 7 base system device?
Step 1: Update Windows 7 Base System Device Drivers
Step 2: Figure Out What’s Wrong With Your Computer (optional)
Step 3: Clean Out All The Junk That Have Built Up On Your Computer (optional)
Step 4: Figure Out What Happened To Make It Stop Working In The First Place (optional)
Step 5: Reinstall Or Restore Windows 7 Base System Device From Backup (required if data is lost).
Read also: What is the Future of Mobile Phone Technology?
What is a base system device?
A base system device is a generic term for the main components needed to allow Windows 7 to boot and function properly. These include Hard drive controllers, storage controllers (IDE or SCSI), network adapters (Ethernet cards), and sound cards. If any of these devices aren’t working correctly, it could cause your computer problems and possibly prevent it from booting up.
Why does the problem happen?
Problems with the base system device usually happen because of a corrupted or missing driver. If you’ve ever experienced a blue screen of death (BSOD) that includes STOP code 0x0000007B, then this is an example of the result from a damaged driver.
Why do I need to update drivers?
A current list of installed drivers can be viewed by going to Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools –> System Information.
If there are any yellow or red symbols next to devices or with an exclamation point inside a triangle, then the drivers for those devices need updating. The driver itself usually will tell you what is wrong and may offer up an update.
How do I update Windows 7 base system device drivers?
You can update the base system device drivers manually, but the easiest way is to use this free utility called DriverDoc developed by a member here at SevenForums, Ramesh Srinivasan.
DriverDoc will scan your entire computer and find all of the outdated, missing, and mismatched drivers.
What’s the difference between a base system device and a boot device?
A boot device is another generic term for everything needed to allow your computer to access files on a Windows 7 installation disk or restore point. If you go to your computer’s BIOS and see an option to boot from CD/DVD, then your computer’s hard drive is included in this.
A base system device driver allows Windows 7 to access the hardware that will be used when it boots up. For example, if you have a RAID or SCSI controller on one of your IDE channels (there are two channels on a hard drive), then you would have two base system device drivers for it.
What will happen if I don’t update my Windows 7 base system device drivers?
If you are experiencing errors with your computer not completing POST, then the most likely cause is an outdated or missing driver for one of your base system devices. If all of your storage controllers are encrypted with BitLocker, then an older driver may cause Windows 7 to fail when it tries to initialize the encryption key.
How do I backup my data?
If you need to restore your base system device drivers, then you can always use System Restore (Start –> All Programs –> Accessories -–> System Tools –> System Restore) or another backup utility like Clonezilla, which is free.
After you have your Windows 7 base system device drivers updated and working correctly, then you can start to figure out what caused them to fail in the first place. This is optional, but it will save you lots of time if you know what caused the error before trying to fix it.